Oris has joined TAG Heuer, Zenith and Tissot in opening an online store on Tmall, an online ecommerce platform run by China’s Alibaba Group.

Liu Xiuyun, general manager of Tmall’s apparel division, said most of Tmall’s users are young and members of the middle class, driving a rebound in luxury sales growth as more brands find renewed interest in the China market.

“More and more luxury-goods makers are adjusting their marketing and pricing strategies,” Liu said.“And because Tmall provides precisely the marketing and content management tools brands need, it is going beyond being a pure sales channel, but also the main platform for branded storytelling and consumer engagement.”

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Oris CEO Rolf Studer said opening the new flagship store is a critical step in their company’s global strategy, adding that a major value from collaboration with Tmall would be the chance to connect with the 500 million users on Alibaba’s platforms.

“Through this partnership, we look forward to finding ways to better merge our offline and online sales channels, to more accurate data-driven product placements and to take part in [Alibaba’s] New Retail initiatives,” said Mr Studer.